sovanta AG is considered an expert in improving the user experience in the SAP environment. The software company from Heidelberg supports companies from different industries in the development of application-specific business apps and covers all phases of the application life cycle from the first requirements analysis to the operation of the new solution. sovanta customers such as adidas, Beiersdorf, Bayer, BASF and Lidl benefit from the combination of in-depth SAP knowledge and extensive experience in the area of user experience for business applications. The company, founded by former SAP board member Prof. Dr. Claus E. Heinrich in 2009, now employs more than 180 people at its locations in Heidelberg, Hamburg and Buenos Aires. For the recording of project times and project controlling, sovanta uses the cloud-based software solution ZEP.
This is how Michael Löckelt describes the initial situation and the reason for looking for another solution. As Head of Customer Solutions at sovanta, he is responsible for the successful implementation of projects for sovanta customers. He adds:
"Our goal was to find a solution with functions that go beyond just time tracking."
During the evaluation phase of possible solution alternatives, a new employee joined sovanta who brought another option into play: the cloud-based solution ZEP from the company provantis IT Solutions. The "new guy" had had very good experiences with the software application at his previous job, and so after a corresponding test phase he was unceremoniously given the task of introducing ZEP at sovanta as well.
ZEP stands for Time Recording for Projects. The web-based solution has been on the market since 2000 and offers project-oriented companies a complete solution for time recording and verification, travel expenses, project management and controlling as well as invoicing.
In summer 2017, the company switched to ZEP. Today, the entire time recording is handled via the solution. Michael Löckelt confirms:
"We not only record all project times that occur in connection with customer projects in ZEP, but also all times that occur in internal projects. In addition, we use ZEP for comprehensive project controlling."
In addition to the web interface, sovanta employees also access the solution via ZEP mobile, the mobile apps from ZEP. These are available for all common operating systems (iOS, Android) and make it possible to access ZEP and record working and travel times at any time, even when on the move. Michael Löckelt explains:
"Our project work generally takes place 'remotely' in our offices, but recording project times via mobile phone is of course practical. Especially our employees in customer engagement and project management appreciate the possibility of mobile access to ZEP."
For travel expense accounting, sovanta employees use the ZEP additional module Business Travel & Travel Expense Accounting.
"Document capture via smartphone camera is a very useful function that is gladly and frequently used"
Other additional modules and functions of ZEP that are used at sovanta are the holiday and absence management and the SOAP interface. The latter is used to transfer the project times recorded in ZEP for visualisation in applications developed by sovanta itself.
According to Mr Löckelt, they are "very satisfied" with the use of ZEP at sovanta AG so far. The modular approach of the software solution meets the requirements of the software company to have an enterprise software solution for the areas of time recording and project controlling instead of a pure time recording tool. For the future, it is planned to extend this use to other areas such as invoicing and to integrate further ZEP modules in the process.
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